| In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors. |
Oakland's state-appointed school chief takes stock on first day
Tuesday June 17, 2003OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) Oakland's new state-appointed school administrator spent his first day on the job Monday visiting some of the district's schools to learn about the district's programs, schools and employees.
Randolph Ward, former state administrator of Compton schools, was brought in by the state to help bring the troubled Oakland Unified School District back to financial stability. On June 2 the district was granted a $100 million dollar bailout loan, the biggest in state history.
Because the loan is so large, state law required state schools chief Jack O'Connell to install an administrator to take financial and academic control of the district until it can pay back the money.
Ward said he hopes to impose freezes on spending and hiring as part of his plan to control costs this summer.
``All levels have to show that they support what happens in each and everyone of these classrooms,'' he said. ``If they're not making a difference in the classrooms, then they're probably not necessary. We will be looking at both central office and throughout the system.''
Come fall, Ward said one of his primary efforts will be on improving student attendance. If all the district's 48,000 students attended school regularly, Oakland Unified's financial problem would be much less since school's receive state funding based on how many students are at school each day, he said.
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